PRIMARK ON ACID
Directed/Curated by Alexander Raptotasios and Howard Sivills.
3Space Oxford Street, London 2014
"Anything that promises 'Hallucination... Arousal... and low-cost clothing' immediately gets our vote, and when it's called Primark on Acid – that's us 100% sold." - TIMEOUT LONDON
Taking place on the first floor of an abandoned office building opposite the mammoth Primark on Tottenham Court Road, Primark on Acid is a site-specific series of live art and cabaret performances, with work presented by a range of underground and alternative artists.The themes of the event are consumerism, trash glamour and fashion and the audiences are invited to grab a seat at the entrance of the space and find their place within the installation while eccentric performances pop-up unexpectedly around them.
The abandoned offices offered by 3Space to Ferodo Bridges were converted to illusionary and atmospheric spaces by Alexander Raptotasios and designer Marco Turcich. Abandoned office equipment, primary paper bags and clothes were recycled into dystopian installations that engulfed the audiences into a world of consumerist paranoia. Small humanoid sculptures emerged from the dirt coming out of metal drawers, show-game presenters were encouraging endless rounds of applause from the audience for questionable reasons, two female bodies slid in between glass windows and neon-lighting as mannequins revived and trapped, an audio guide was read out - giving instruction as to how to survive a journey through PRIMARK, two musicians covered old greek songs in a contemporary grunge style, a performer-personification of fame is passing around champagne to be drunk by her stilettos and a man recounting an acid trip to the audience through Skype wondered on Oxford Street among the public exiting the PRIMARK stores covered in unspecified liquids - visible from the offices' glass wall
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Anna Vauhkonen, Alexander Raptotasios, Howard Sivills, Beetle & Bird, Chara Kolaiti, Debbie Kent, Anne Sophie Cochevelou, DJ EGGSLEGS, Tom Gladstone, Katerina Georgiou & Marco Turcich and DJ EGGLEGS.